Brooklyn artist Josh Zepeda brought a distinctly New York perspective to the T-shirts he designed to celebrate Fordham’s collaboration with the New York Liberty.
The shirts, distributed at Fordham Day at Barclays Center on Aug. 29, draw on the university’s “For What Matters” slogan, pairing phrases like “For the grit, grace, and glory” and “For the community that lifts us higher” with Zepeda’s illustrations of the Statue of Liberty.
A Design Rooted in Brooklyn
The choice of Lady Liberty was an obvious one for Zepeda, who produces freelance illustrations and art under the name “A Kid from Brooklyn.” The iconic statue is not only part of the WNBA team’s visual identity, but also a personal source of inspiration for him. His parents immigrated from Honduras, and he grew up in Flatbush, surrounded by the diversity and vibrancy of the city he says has shaped him as an artist.
Zepeda said he wanted to bring that New York City spirit to the designs.
“There’s nothing more New York or more inspiring than the Statue of Liberty,” Zepeda said. “People would see it and be moved, feeling like they arrived at a place where they could do the things they dreamed about.”
That idea fit naturally with Fordham’s partnership with the Liberty, which brings together two homegrown New York City institutions and creates opportunities for Fordham students to engage with the WNBA team through internships and experiential learning.
Zepeda said he felt inspired by Fordham’s “For What Matters” slogan. “It felt very New York to me, the idea that people come here for the things that matter to them.”
From Childhood Drawings to a Creative Career
Zepeda has been drawing since childhood, when he was inspired by ’90s-era cartoons. But as the son of immigrants, art did not initially seem like a potential career path, he said. A high school teacher encouraged him to pursue it, but he ultimately put drawing aside.
It was years later, after becoming a father and rediscovering his love of comics and storytelling, that Zepeda returned to art. He started taking continuing education classes at the School of Visual Arts and pursuing freelance illustration and design. Since then, he’s built a freelance business producing merchandise, posters, and branding, much of it inspired by the city he loves. He now works full time as a tradesman while continuing to build his career as a freelance artist.
A Proud Moment for Dad
The T-shirt giveaway at Barclays Center was a huge success, with hundreds of attendees lining up to get a piece of the collaboration. For Zepeda, seeing the shirts resonate with the Fordham community and Liberty fans made the project especially rewarding. Perhaps even more rewarding was sharing the moment with his kids. They had watched their dad working on the designs after work in the evenings, and Zepeda says they were impressed by the crowd clamoring for the finished product.
“I asked them what they thought and they said, ‘It’s cool to see so many people get excited about something you made at home,’” Zepeda said.
